Sportswear

Zanerobe, the University of Sport, brings beachy Australian style to these shores this year with a sportswear collection for men, women and children based on weekend basics such as T-shirts, tanks and boardshorts. In 2002, Jonathan "Jono" Yeo, 35, and Leith Testoni, 33, founded Sydney-based Zanerobe after wagering over beers that they could make a shirt better than a "hideous" striped button-down that some guy paraded in front of them at a neighborhood pub. Yeo and Testoni named their fledgling collection Zanerobe, a combination of the name Zane – a nickname Testoni wished he had – and "robe" from " garde-robe ," which is French for wardrobe.

NEW YORK - Los Angeles-based designer Scott Sternberg showed his Band of Outsiders women's collection Sunday afternoon during New York Fashion Week, in the raw space on Wooster Street in Soho that will be the location of the first Band of Outsiders boutique opening this summer. The look: Surrealism meets sportswear with lots of sweater knit dressing, fuzzy faux furs and painterly floral prints. The inspiration: Lee Miller, the famous '30s and '40s photojournalist and fashion model who was romantically involved with Man Ray and was his muse.

Pop star Justin Bieber will serve as the face of the Adidas Neo sportswear label, the German sportswear company announced Tuesday. In announcing Bieber's new role as the brand's "style icon," Adidas' chief marketing officer, Hermann Deininger, said the singer embodies the spirit of the label. “Justin makes his mark in his own bold and expressive way through fashion, music and style," he said. "Justin will help us spread the spirit of Neo worldwide and showcase the brand's sports- and lifestyle-inspired apparel and footwear silhouettes.” The partnership kicks off with a worldwide contest involving the customized gold sneakers Bieber is wearing on his current "Believe" tour (of which the label is a sponsor)

Pop star Justin Bieber will serve as the face of the Adidas Neo sportswear label, the German sportswear company announced Tuesday. In announcing Bieber's new role as the brand's "style icon," Adidas' chief marketing officer, Hermann Deininger, said the singer embodies the spirit of the label. “Justin makes his mark in his own bold and expressive way through fashion, music and style," he said. "Justin will help us spread the spirit of Neo worldwide and showcase the brand's sports- and lifestyle-inspired apparel and footwear silhouettes.” The partnership kicks off with a worldwide contest involving the customized gold sneakers Bieber is wearing on his current "Believe" tour (of which the label is a sponsor)

Under a revised letter of intent, the San Francisco-based blue jeans company is selling Koret of North America through a leveraged buyout to a group including Oppenheimer & Co. and members of Koret management but excluding Koret President Richard Banks. Under an original agreement June 20, Banks was to have participated. The transaction, terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to be completed by Sept. 30. Koret, bought by Levi in 1979, makes women's sportswear.

While fans were fixated on the National Football League playoffs -- in which, by definition, the participating teams are competitors -- the Supreme Court was weighing whether on-field enemies can be allies in an economic conspiracy. Last week, the justices heard from a spurned sportswear manufacturer arguing that an exclusive contract with a rival company is a violation of antitrust laws. The court will fumble if it complies. American Needle Inc. used to be one of several companies that provided souvenir sportswear for NFL teams.

Farah in Takeover Talks: Farah Inc., a maker of jeans and popular sportswear, said it is in substantive talks to sell the company in a deal worth at least $69 million. Farah, which makes clothes under its own and the Generra label, gave no other details. A full buyout of Farah would value the company at $69 million based on its stock price of $11.25 Friday. The El Paso-based company said it and investment bank Wertheim Schroder are reviewing transactions to maximize shareholder value.

This summer, menswear is a blaze of color. Jackets served up by designers look good enough to eat--watermelon, tangerine, raspberry, lemon and peach. Easy, single- and double-breasted styles appear freshest when worn over body-conscious white sportswear, modeled here by dancers with the Kirov Ballet. Crisp, white jeans are a strategic buy this season, with Western cuts and stretch denim preferable to looser, more relaxed fits.

Dead men don't wear plaid. But the variegated pattern popularized by the Duke of Windsor in the 1920s is alive and well in menswear for fall, 1991. To wit, at the recent Men's Fashion Assn. gathering in Rye, N.Y., designers played matchmaker with tartans, classic glens, Western ombres, windowpanes and buffalo checks. They mixed them on everything from suits and sport coats to wool bombers and hooded toggle coats.

When Karl Lagerfeld arrived at Chanel in 1983, the label had degenerated into a glorified fragrance business. But during his tenure, he's turned Chanel into a global force and ushered in a new era in fashion. This "Lazarus movement" has inspired dozens of others to try reviving old-fashioned labels with new designers. Here are a few of them, along with what the labels were known for when they were founded, and what they are known for today. Alexander McQueen Founded in 1992.

Jonas Bevacqua, who co-founded the Orange County-based hip-hop and skateboarding clothing line known as LRG that became an influential fashion leader, has died. He was 33. Bevacqua died Monday inside his Laguna Beach home, the Orange County coroner's office said Tuesday. The cause of death has not been determined. An autopsy was expected to be completed Wednesday. Bevacqua, who co-founded the Irvine company with business partner Robert Wright in 1999, achieved success with products that appealed to artists, athletes and musicians such as Kobe Bryant and Kanye West.

When Karl Lagerfeld arrived at Chanel in 1983, the label had degenerated into a glorified fragrance business. But during his tenure, he's turned Chanel into a global force and ushered in a new era in fashion. This "Lazarus movement" has inspired dozens of others to try reviving old-fashioned labels with new designers. Here are a few of them, along with what the labels were known for when they were founded, and what they are known for today. Alexander McQueen Founded in 1992.

Zanerobe, the University of Sport, brings beachy Australian style to these shores this year with a sportswear collection for men, women and children based on weekend basics such as T-shirts, tanks and boardshorts. In 2002, Jonathan "Jono" Yeo, 35, and Leith Testoni, 33, founded Sydney-based Zanerobe after wagering over beers that they could make a shirt better than a "hideous" striped button-down that some guy paraded in front of them at a neighborhood pub. Yeo and Testoni named their fledgling collection Zanerobe, a combination of the name Zane – a nickname Testoni wished he had – and "robe" from " garde-robe ," which is French for wardrobe.

Khaki is back. But more than that, the humble military-inspired staple of the '80s preppy wardrobe — and hallmark of the '90s casual Friday era that followed — is marching upmarket. This spring, dusty brown cotton twill has moved far beyond the beige pant, riding the Army/safari trend deep into designer ready-to-wear territory. On the women's spring-summer 2010 runways of New York and Europe were crisp safari dresses and lace-up ponchos at Celine, sleeveless military-officer-style shirt dresses at Chloe and a cornucopia of khaki colors at Alexander Wang, crafted into corsets, pieced alongside leather and heather gray knits in slouchy mixed-fabrication trousers and even shaped into a sexy, belly-button-baring dress.

L.L. Bean is 98 years old and hasn't looked this young in decades. Anticipating its 100th anniversary, the direct-mail retailer based in Freeport, Maine, is giving itself a head start with a new generation of consumers. This week, it launches L.L. Bean Signature, featuring updated versions of American sportswear classics — outerwear, knits, moccasins and its famed tote bag — sold through a new e-commerce site. L.L. Bean Signature is the brainchild of Creative Director Alex Carleton, known for founding Rogues Gallery, a collection of fashionable yet wearable men's basics.

Phillip Lim hit it out of the park at New York Fashion Week by returning to what he became famous for in the first place -- elevating classic sportswear pieces to must-haves with the slightest design tweaks. In a season when nearly every designer has shown a cape, Lim -- who showed his fall collection Wednesday -- had something extra. The first came in a buff-colored check pattern, paired with a hot pink silk blouse with ties at the cuffs and black suede jeans. Lim acknowledged the sweater-dressing trend too, offering an airy gray mohair with a chiffon hem and a gray merino wool poncho with side lacing.

Designer Patti Cappalli built a name for herself with innovative concepts in sportswear and leisure wear. Now she hopes to be remembered as the team player who took women out of dressy dresses. For Cappalli and partner Rick Beach, the goal since June has been "evening wear with a casual sportswear approach." Their unusual collection, which debuts Monday at the California Mart during spring fashion showings, can be "very chic or very jazzy," Cappalli says.

A gunman who walked into a South Coast Plaza store, tied up a clerk and threatened to "blow her head off" walked away not with money but with expensive designer sportswear, police reported Thursday. For Costa Mesa police the case was unusual because most robbers don't tie up their victims, Sgt. John FitzPatrick said. But for the victim, the Wednesday night incident was so traumatic she quit her job. "She's really shaken up," said Linda Ward, assistant manager of the Lady Tennis store.

While fans were fixated on the National Football League playoffs -- in which, by definition, the participating teams are competitors -- the Supreme Court was weighing whether on-field enemies can be allies in an economic conspiracy. Last week, the justices heard from a spurned sportswear manufacturer arguing that an exclusive contract with a rival company is a violation of antitrust laws. The court will fumble if it complies. American Needle Inc. used to be one of several companies that provided souvenir sportswear for NFL teams.

There are so many exciting ways to practice fitness, but workout clothes are often stuck in some 1990s cardio dance class. Inspired by a typical L.A. woman's weekend wardrobe, Bebe introduces PH8, a sportswear collection that can easily transition from Pilates class to coffee date at Intelligentsia. Tara Poseley, PH8 brand president who was formerly with the Gap, was clued in on how women's fitness needs have changed. Instead of wearing a sports tank and stretch pants for spin class and then changing into day wear, women need clothes that can go from yoga to lunch at the farmers market.